Top 5 Visions for Re-Engineering Journalism

In spite of the hard times that the news industry is undergoing, not a day goes by without hearing about a new app or service to help stay informed and on top of news. And while there is a cacophony of voices out there, beautifully written and crafted pieces are still being published. Not all hope is lost for journalism.

Keeping this hope alive is also the mission of the John S. Knight Fellowship, allowing 20 journalists and journalism entrepreneurs from around the world to spend a year at Stanford pursuing their ideas for improving the quality of news. They work with designers and experts from the D.School and with business-oriented minds at the Graduate School of Business to turn their projects into reality.

I recently attended the Knight Fellows project presentations at Stanford, which ranged from increasing public access to information in Nicaragua to leveraging gaming technology to allow readers to get up close and personal with news. Common to all projects: an intense collaboration between reporters, designers, coders, and data experts. My personal favorite: My News Concierge, a service designed to help you get caught up with news in a time-efficient manner.

Below, find five examples from the Knight Fellows that prove the world of news is more alive than ever:

My News Concierge acts very much like a hotel concierge to meet your news needs whether you’ve been away from the office for a week or just want a primer on a certain beat. Been away for five days? The service offers up the most important facts from that time. Have a 15-minute commute to catch up on current events? News Concierge fits only the most important news into that slot. Keep an eye on Marie-Catherine Beuth; her project is definitely meeting a need!

Ever wanted to know the basics about what’s happening in Syria without having to read dozens of complex and far too detailed articles? Wouldn’t it be great if you just found the straight facts? In comes AnimatedPress. While always emphasizing news, Wilson Livano and his team use animation to explain a complex story in five minutes. What’s next? The Greek Crisis explained in four acts. Some stories, I guess, are best told in parts.

My News Concierge acts very much like a hotel concierge to meet your news needs whether you’ve been away from the office for a week or just want a primer on a certain beat. Been away for five days? The service offers up the most important facts from that time. Have a 15-minute commute to catch up on current events? News Concierge fits only the most important news into that slot. Keep an eye on Marie-Catherine Beuth; her project is definitely meeting a need!

Today’s tools allow anybody to “hack” photos quickly and with fairly seamless results. Sam Stewart, a photojournalist with plenty of experience in the field, focused his project on the use of image forensic tools to detect manipulation in news photography. Check out the most famous cases of news photo manipulation.

Update (9/01/2014) This animation was published on June of 2013 and since then many new developments have occurred: The rise of ISIS and the loss of influence of the Free Syrian Army; the consolidation of Assad’s power and the destabilization of Iraq among others. Although I would love to update the video, I have moved to other projects, but I believe the causes of the conflict and the events that led to it remain the same.
This has been a learning experience on the development of an animation for a topic that remains in the news cycle and it has yielded valuable lessons for the new ones. Thanks for watching!

This animation explains the origins and ramifications of the Syrian conflict. It aims to be a starting point for a deeper exploration of the topic, providing background and context to audiences that haven’t followed the conflict closely.
For updates on recent developments, sources and further readings visit animatedpress.com
In March of 2011 thousands took to the streets all over Syria to demand reforms, following the example of popular uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt and Yemen. The government of Bashar Al-Assad responded with force, triggering a civil war that has claimed the lives of over 60.000 Syrians in the last two years and brought misery to both sides of the conflict.

Reporters often spend months investigating an issue then quickly switch over to the next hot story, leaving behind a plethora of knowledge. Andrew Donahue thought hard about this and now proposes Scratch, a platform to engage the journalism community to go beyond reporting and start helping fix problems in the community. I embrace the notion of news media identifying issues and bringing about change. Will Scratch be the answer?

Today’s tools allow anybody to “hack” photos quickly and with fairly seamless results. Sam Stewart, a photojournalist with plenty of experience in the field, focused his project on the use of image forensic tools to detect manipulation in news photography. Check out the most famous cases of news photo manipulation.

As a content creator, I know all too well that no matter what you do, often readers just don’t engage. Enter video game design. Want to know what the Iranian Revolution was like in 1979? Play the game 1979 by Ink Stories. Knight Fellow David Sarno, a former?Los Angeles Times reporter, believes that allowing readers to touch and feel the story will be key to the future of storytelling.

Reporters often spend months investigating an issue then quickly switch over to the next hot story, leaving behind a plethora of knowledge. Andrew Donahue thought hard about this and now proposes Scratch, a platform to engage the journalism community to go beyond reporting and start helping fix problems in the community. I embrace the notion of news media identifying issues and bringing about change. Will Scratch be the answer?

As a content creator, I know all too well that no matter what you do, often readers just don’t engage. Enter video game design. Want to know what the Iranian Revolution was like in 1979? Play the game 1979 by Ink Stories. Knight Fellow David Sarno, a former?Los Angeles Times reporter, believes that allowing readers to touch and feel the story will be key to the future of storytelling.

About author

Florencia Prada

Florencia Prada is the Head of Digital Marketing at swissnex San Francisco. While she loves all things tech, she tries hard not to get carried away by shiny objects and new ideas that are all too pervasive in Silicon Valley.